DeMarcus Cousins signed a 1-year contract to join LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the Lakers last month, but he may never have the chance to suit up for Los Angeles.
Boogie suffered a knee injury, one that is now being reported as a torn ACL.
This just another in an unfortunate long line of injuries for DeMarcus Cousins.
As a member of the New Orleans Pelicans in 2017-2018, Cousins was putting up 25 PPG and 13 RPG as the Pelicans were playing their best basketball in years.
Then, Boogie tore his achilles, ending his season.
Cousins was in a contract year, and hit free agency as damaged goods.
Reports say the Pelicans offered him a deal worth $40 million over 2 years during the 17-18 season (after his injury), but Boogie declined it, banking on getting a better offer in the offseason.
That offer never materialized, and Boogie decided to join the Warriors via a mid-level exception.
He did not return to the court until 2019, but he still managed to put up 16 PPG and 8 RPG his first season back from his devastating injury. He was then able to make the playoffs for the first time in his career.
However, during Game 2 of the first round, Cousins tore his left quad, taking him off the court yet again.
He did not play again until Game 1 of the NBA Finals (6 plus weeks later). He had a solid Game 5, but otherwise, he was a limited presence.
Hitting free agency again this past offeseason, the hope was now that he was over 17 months removed from his achilles injury, there would be more of a market for his services.
This was not the case.
The market dried up quickly, and Boogie was left stranded.
He eventually signed a contract with the Lakers worth $3.5 million, hoping to find his old game and compete for a championship.
Now he might never step on the floor as a Laker.
Going into his age-30 season, Cousins has seen injuries now tarnish parts (or all) of three straight seasons of his career.
It’s a sad turn of events for a player who was never appreciated prior to joining the Pelicans, and one who we only briefly saw compete at his typical All-Star level on a team worthy of his talents.
We likely will not see Cousins play again until he is 31, and it remains to be seen where that will be.
For a player that’s always gotten a bad rep for no reason, it truly sucks that he’s being deprived of the chance to prove his critics and naysayers wrong.
Boogie, I wish you a full and speedy recovery.
This is just another reason why injuries to athletes are the worst.
Photo above via the Daily Express
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